Today’s music moment comes about only because of today’s news. The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings 1961, the outstanding performance by the Bill Evans Trio, is one of 25 new additions to the National Recording Registry.

In making the announcement, the Library of Congress said the five sets the trio performed on June 25, 1961, “are […]

When the June 9, 1973, issue of Billboard magazine briefly reviewed Jimmy Buffett’s new release, it called it a “[g]ood soft rock collection.” Evidently, the reviewer didn’t get any clues from the album title or liner notes or pay any attention to the opening notes or other content of the album.

Even though I probably wasn’t aware of the routine yet, Abbott and Costello’s classic “Who’s On First?” reminds me of buying The Guess Who’s American Woman. I called my best friend on the phone after getting the album and the conversation went something like:

By the most common definition of the term, The Ides of March were a one hit wonder band. Forty years ago this week their song “Vehicle” broke onto the Billboard charts, where it would peak at number two in late May 1970. Never again would the band hit the top 40.

Granted, it’s a compilation album. And it comes after both Sgt. Pepper’s and Abbey Road. That said, Hey Jude, a/k/a The Beatles Again, was long my favorite Beatles album — and remains among my favorites 40 years after it was released.

Some don’t consider this an “official” Beatles album because it is a compilation. Released […]

I need to get back in the habit of doing this series and thought I would do so with an approach a bit different than before. It is prompted by a statistic I came across in the last couple weeks. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, “people tend to most prefer musical […]